Online Teaching Certificate Program

We offer a four course, non-credit Online Teaching Certificate program, available to Rutgers and non-Rutgers faculty, staff, and graduate students. These courses are designed to prepare you for online teaching, or sharpen your skills if you are already teaching online. Courses can be completed in any sequence. The Online Teaching Certificate is awarded for successful completion of all four.

Note for current participants: We are re-organizing our Certificate courses, but this will not affect your progress toward the certificate, or change your requirements. If you have already completed Video Voyages, for example, you have your Major Tools requirement finished! All courses already completed will be honored, and you do not have to re-take anything. Feel free to contact us at oid@docs.rutgers.edu with any questions you may have.

Why earn an Online Teaching Certificate from Rutgers Online?

Marketable: Earn a certificate from Rutgers Online, a recognized leader in online education.

Practical: Each course is 100% online and gives you the necessary knowledge and skills to successfully teach online.

High-quality: Each course was designed and developed by instrctional design and technology experts with years of online teaching experience.

Affordable: The cost for Rutgers faculty, staff & graduate students is $100 per course, so $400 total for the certificate. The cost for non-Rutgers faculty, staff, and graduate students is $300 per course, so $1,200 for the whole certificate.

Expert Instructors: The courses are taught by instructional design and technology experts from Rutgers, many of whom are also teaching faculty.

Certificate Essentials Courses

The "certificate essentials" courses, Fundamentals and Universal Design, are both required to complete this program and receive your certificate.

FUNDAMENTALS OF DESIGNING AND TEACHING ONLINE COURSES

When first developing an online or hybrid course, instructors can feel at sea and as though they have little solid knowledge on which to base their choices for course activities and delivery. There is an ongoing body of research on what makes an effective online course, though, and this course is designed to provide a base of such pedagogical knowledge to help instructors accurately judge the impact of their decisions when developing and teaching their own online courses. Holding this course itself online also provides an introduction to common learning management system (LMS) elements. Participants will gain insight into their role as an instructor for an online course and learn best practices for teaching online, and will apply these practices by developing a sample course unit. This course is designed for beginners and the material we will cover is broadly applicable to any course delivered through an LMS.

UNIVERSAL DESIGN AND ACCESSIBILITY IN ONLINE EDUCATION

This course introduces some basic concepts related to accessibility in online courses, and the benefits of using "universal design" for course materials. Participants will learn about the wide variety of access challenges, in online courses, and practice creating robust and broadly accessible materials. While the course does not focus on legal issues, it will provide a brief review of some pertinent legislation on access and disability.

Format: This non-credit course is offered in the Canvas LMS, online over a 5-week period with scheduled assignment due dates. It is asynchronous, but not self-paced.

Major Issues Courses

One of the "major issues" courses is required to complete the program and receive your certificate, though you can take as many of them as you wish. We offer 1-2 such courses each year. Current topics include student engagement and effective alignment of course materials.

ENGAGING STUDENTS IN ONLINE COURSES

This course introduces participants to some of the practices known to increase student engagement with online courses. Participants will learn the theory behind these practices and then have a chance to try them out hands-on, by building course activities that follow one of the models studied. Participants will have a chance to pick a model to study in-depth and to exchange ideas and insights with their peers, as they work.

Format: This non-credit course is offered in the Canvas LMS, online over a 5-week period with scheduled assignment due dates. It is asynchronous, but not self-paced.

AVAILABLE SECTIONS

Check back soon!

Major Tools

One of the "major tools" courses is required to complete the program and receive your certificate, though you can take as many of them as you wish. We offer 1-2 such courses each year. Current tools include video and animation.

Incorporating video within your course content can be powerful and engaging. Videos can stimulate discussions, invite learners to analyze concepts, and emotionally engage the audience. This course is designed to introduce beginners to the basics of producing videos for their online and hybrid courses. In this level one course, participants will be introduced to common video capture and editing software, lighting and audio tools and techniques, and the process of scripting and storyboarding. Participants will also explore the characteristics of engaging videos, and learn to identify and resolve potential obstacles when producing videos. By the end of the course, participants will create a short video suitable for use in a hybrid or online course. For the video production component of this course, participants are expected to have access to a computer with a web-camera and microphone installed.

Either I or II can count toward completion of the Certificate, though you are welcome to take both if you like.

Format: This non-credit course is offered in the Canvas LMS, online over a 4-week period with scheduled assignment due dates. It is asynchronous, but not self-paced.

In this follow up course to Video Production for Teachers I. Participants will continue to hone their video capturing and editing skills, while further exploring the pedagogical benefits and implications of using videos in online and hybrid courses. Topics will include Universal Design for Learning and ADA compliance, with respect to video; best practices regarding multimedia, as outlined in the Quality Matters (QM) Rubric; and advanced video editing techniques. By the end of this course, participants will create a video in full compliance with ADA and QM standard that is suitable for use in an online or hybrid course. For the video production component of this course, participants are expected to have access to a computer with a web-camera and microphone installed.

Either I or II can count toward completion of the Certificate, though you are welcome to take both if you like.

Format: This non-credit course is offered in the Canvas LMS, online over a 4-week period with scheduled assignment due dates. It is asynchronous, but not self-paced.